Annual Report 2011 - SportingPulse

Referee Development
Program
The FFV Referee Review was
completed at the end of December
2010 and was accompanied by
a three-year implementation
plan. The review was launched
as a means of addressing issues
surrounding referee recruitment,
retention, education and quality.
There were several major
achievements in implementing the
Referee Review recommendations
in 2011. One of these was the
development of the Instructing
Referee Program. This included the
delivery of the national Instructing
Referee course presented at
clubs for interested participants,
primarily young people interested
in beginning refereeing, and
parents of players in small-sided
football. Once the course was
completed participants received a
green officials shirt, symbolising
their rookie status, and a basic
equipment pack. As a result of this
program a total of seventy nine
instructing referees were recruited
and officiated for the first time at
U11 small-sided football games.
The ‘green shirt’ program was also
introduced for newly qualified
Level 4 referees of any age.
The purpose of the green shirt
was to demonstrate to players,
coaches, and spectators that the
referee was not experienced. It
was used as a tool to eradicate
abuse of inexperienced referees,
which was identified through
the review as the most common
reason why referees leave the
game. In addition to the green
shirt, graduates of the course
were supplied with a kit consisting
of flags, whistle, red and yellow
cards, socks and a bag. Overall,
twenty six Level 4 Referee courses
were held during the year,
engaging a total of 380 people.
This has led to a total registration
of 1166 active referees – the
highest ever recorded in Victoria.
Just under 100 of these referees
are women, again, a record for
Victoria. To continue to support
female officials a women’s referee
support group is being developed
in consultation with existing
female referees.
A Club Assistant Referee program
was developed by FFA and
presented at eighteen clubs across
the state, engaging 216 club
members. This proved to be highly
popular, with most clubs indicating
that the people who attended the
sessions developed a much higher
awareness of their responsibilities
as club assistant referees, and a
greater knowledge of the rules,
especially the offside rule, which
gave them more confidence in
their role.
The Club Feedback Form, available
by a link from the referee page on
the FFV website, was promoted
amongst clubs in 2011. This has
provided some valuable feedback
with some referees promoted as a
result of positive reports from clubs.
Remaining recommendations
which will be implemented over
the next two years, include a new
structure for referee development,
an ongoing referee recruitment
campaign, compliance with
rules of competition in relation
to ground quality and referee
facilities at clubs, an online Laws
of the Game test, a nationwide
‘Respect’ program, and issues
related to abuse of referees
including funding for debriefing
and support for referees subjected
to abuse.
Referees
2011 saw a record number of
FFV Match Officials registered,
totalling 1167. Of these ninety six
were female.
The positive outcomes of the
Talented Officials (TOP) and High
Performance Referee Programs
(HPR) , in particular for some
individual referees, have really
come to the fore this year.
Of the four match officials selected
from TOP to attend the National
Youth Championships, three were
chosen to attend the Institute
Challenge in November. At the
latter tournament, Harley Natis
(19), FFV Young Referee of the
year in 2011, was selected as
Referee of the Tournament.
Alejandro Azcurra (25) has
graduated from the AFC “Projects
Future“ two year course and is
awaiting confirmation that as one
of the top six graduates, he will be
invited to England in early 2012
for extra training experiences.
Lucien Laverdure(25), FFV Referee
of the Year in 2011, was recently
awarded one of two ASC National
Officiating Scholarships for
2012, which will enable him to
participate in further development
coaching and officiating around
Australia.
Both Alejandro and Lucien have
also been included in the new HAL
“C” referee panel for 2011-12.
During the year a structured, online
Match Official Club Feedback
Form has been implemented
which includes the mechanism for
clubs to be involved in the further
development of referees.
However, for match officials and
the game in general, the most
positive statistics are the reduction
of yellow cards, by 24% and
red cards, by 7%. This has been
achieved by the better education
and coaching of Match Officials
and the adherence by the majority
of participants to the FFV Zero
Tolerance Policy.
Football Federation Victoria | Annual Report 2011 1 3